


Like Talking to a Stone Door

by idontevenknow (idontevenknowugh)



Series: Afflictionfell [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Disease, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, afflictionfell, afflictionfell sans, afflictionfell toriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 08:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13095864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idontevenknowugh/pseuds/idontevenknow
Summary: “Knock knock.” The door said. Toriel put a hand to the cold stone, but it was the same as it ever was. She smiled ruefully. At least it seemed her insanity would be amusing.





	Like Talking to a Stone Door

**Author's Note:**

> Check the end of the chapter for a link to Afflictionfell's blog. I'm going to be posting worldbuilding snippets, answering asks, and so forth there.

“Knock knock.” The door said. Toriel put a hand to the cold stone, but it was the same as it ever was. She smiled ruefully. At least it seemed her insanity would be amusing.

“Who’s there?” She asked.

“Who- oh, um, p-peach.” The door sounded surprised. She didn’t know why, when it had started the joke.

“Peach who?” She laughed.

“Peach-ance you wanna tell me who you are?” The door’s tone was a little more aggressive as it asked the question. Toriel straightened.

“Don’t be silly. You know who I am. I come down every day,” she admonished the door. It was silent in reply. Clearly it saw how rude it was being, pretending that it didn’t know her.

“Humor me,” it finally said, voice serious.

“Are you-?” Toriel took a deep breath. “Are you trying to be cruel? How can you not know me? You are the site of my gravest sins! My children… my children…!”

Toriel pressed her hands to the door, her fire magic flaring to life. The stone steamed, the snow on the opposite side evaporating away.

“Shit, hot!” The door complained. “That’s some powerful fire magic.”

Toriel stopped the attack, sinking to her knees. She curled forward, horns resting against the door.

“I’m sorry… sorry… I’m so sorry…”

The door didn’t reply.

——

“Knock knock.”

It took a while for the door to start speaking to her again. When it did it was hesitant, like it wasn’t sure she would be listening. Who else did she have to talk to? She had exhausted all she had to say on jumping, wiggling, and heathy eating long ago.

“Who’s there?” She answered with a sad smile.

“Cows go.”

“Cows go who?” She asked, even though she was pretty sure she has heard this one.

“Idiot, cows go moo.”

Toriel giggled. A classic was a classic for a reason.

“Knock knock.” She started through her laughter.

“Who’s there?” The door asked.

“Tank.” She giggled, anticipating the punch line.

“Tank who?”

“You’re quite welcome.”

She could hear the door grumbling and burst out laughing.

It became a habit, coming down to trade jokes with the stone door. It had some great ones.

“Theodore.”

“Theodore who?”

“Theodore isn’t open so I knocked.”

Toriel sobered. It had no business bringing up how she kept it closed. It was a door, what did it care of it was open or not?

“Knock knock?” It tried when she didn’t start another joke.

“Who’s there?” She asked curtly.

“Peas.” It said quickly.

“Peas who?”

“Peas tell me your name.”

Toriel stood, straightening her robes. She wasn’t going to ‘humor’ it on this count. She turned to storm away from the door, stomping her feet petulantly. She had finally been enjoying herself.

“Wait!” The door cried. “One more?”

“Not if you’re going to mock me like that,” she growled.

“I won’t! I wasn’t even- Just listen!” The door insisted. Toriel stopped and turned a glare on it, crossing her arms.

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?” She growled, wary of its jokes.

“A monster.”

“A monster who?”

“A monster who’s wondering who the fuck is living in the ruins of the old capital.”

Toriel’s hand came up to her muzzle. A monster? It wasn’t the door, or her hallucinations of the door speaking? She wasn’t crazy?

“You’re real? A real monster?” She asked.

“Yeah… did you- naw, I mean, will you tell me who you are now?”

“I can’t. It wouldn’t be safe,” she sighed, “for either of us.”

“It’s just a name,” the monster said on the other side of the door. She could hear the pain in his voice. “How dangerous could that be?”

“You have no idea,” she sighed, and he barked out a laugh. “The Kin- well no, that’s too much.”

The door- no, the monster- didn’t reply right away. He was silent long enough for Toriel to imagine he’d walked away. Maybe he hadn’t been real after all. She had dreamt him up from loneliness and a desire to tell her story.

“If it helps, I have some… ethical and… factual bones, heh, to pick with… the powers that be.” He finally spoke. Toriel walked back to the door.

“I, too, have some differences with him.” That was putting it mildly. “I would welcome the chance to… talk. After we know each other a little better, maybe… “

“Fair, I suppose, in this hell we live in. ‘Till next time, then.” She heard footsteps crunch through the snow, now that she knew to listen for them.

What had he just said?

——-

“Toriel? As in Queen Toriel?” Sans, as she’d just found out, was yelling through the door. Toriel flinched away.

“Please keep your voice down,” Toriel pleaded.

“What the fuck at you doing in there?” He did, but sounded no less upset for the lowered volume.

“Hiding. Asgore lost his mind. All of the monster’s who supported me were killed. He was leading our people to ruin.”

Sans made a strangled noise, and she heard something hit the door. Then two more things.

“And what do you think he did without anyone to tell him that?” He growled. “You abandoned us to his madness!”

Toriel stared at the door, horrified by his words. She hadn’t meant to… but Asgore… she had…

“He would have killed me too, eventually!” She countered. “He sent that cretin Undyne after us!”

“Heh, can’t argue with you there. He was willing to kill his old buddy, Gaster, after all.”

“Doctor Gaster is dead?” Torielfelt weak. She had said it, but she hadn’t really thought Asgore capable of it. “Are you sure it was Asgore?”

“Pretty sure,” Sans replied wryly. Toriel fell silent. The news shook her and all of her delusions about how her retreat had helped. She had thought that their fights were making it worse, enraging Asgore and setting him on a more dangerous path. Had she really been moderating him?

“Monsters are killing monsters. Families are turning on each other. Neighbors are selling out friends. This plague is tearing us apart worse than humans could ever manage.”

“Plague…” That didn’t make sense. They were killing each other over eadochas? Toriel tried to find the reason in what she was hearing.

“I…” She wasn’t sure she could. Besides, what did he expect her to do? She couldn’t just go back and fix… everything.

“Some kinda queen…” Sans sneered. She could hear it in his voice. It made her bring her arms up and cross them over her chest. The crunch of him walking away was almost lost in the pounding in her ears.

She was alone again.

———

“Knock knock.”

Toriel lifted her head. She was seated with her back against the door, arms on her bent knees. The crumpled remains of her crown lay on the floor between them.

“You came back,” she said softly.

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Me.”

“Me who?” She asked teasingly, or as teasingly as she could manage.

“Me too,” he answered far too readily.

“What?” She didn’t get the punchline. ‘Him too’ about what?

“I ran away too. I know what’s going on. I’ve known for years, and I haven’t done a damn thing.”

“Oh…” she still wasn’t sure what he was referring to, but she was much too exhausted to ask right now. “Are you going to now?”

“Fuck no,” Sans laughed, but it was dry. “I got somethin’ to lose. Just… wasn’t fair.”

“I see.” Toriel picked up the crown. It wasn’t really Sans’s job to fix the entire Underground. Was it hers?

**Author's Note:**

> Check out [Afflictionfell](https://afflictionfell.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for more info on the world at large.


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